Marin Cilic has finally ended his 2015 title drought by brushing aside Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4, to successfully defend his title in the Moscow Open.
The clash was a rematch of the 2014 final where Cilic also won by the same scoreline. Throughout his straight sets victory, Cilic remained unbroken as he fended off four break points, two in each set. In both sets the Croat broke Agut’s serve during the middle part as he cruised to the victory after 90 minutes.
Throughout the match Cilic produced 9 aces, won 75% of his first service points and 52% of his second. Despite winning in straight sets, Cilic won just seven more points than Agut. The new world No.11 describes the tournament in Moscow as his new ‘native tournament’ due to the friendliness of the Russian public.
“This tournament is becoming more and more special for me,” Cilic said.
“Coming back for a second year in a row and to win it again, it gives me huge, huge satisfaction and huge pleasure.”
Throughout the tournament Cilic has dropped one set, which was in the second round against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin. During his press conference, Cilic said that his match against Istomin was his hardest of the entire tournament.
The win in Moscow is Cilic’s 14th ATP title. The win elevates Cilic up the rankings to 11th in the world, however, his dreams of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals has ended after David Ferrer won the Vienna Open. Cilic could still enter the tournament as a alternate.
